JPH07239850A - Structured document creation support system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Structure] A means for performing input / output while standing between a structured document file and a combination of the logical structure and a list of parts such as drawings and tables, and displaying the logical structure Window for visually editing, a means for starting an external application such as an editor or a display / print application, a means for converting part data into a format that can be handled by the display / print application, a logical structure and drawings, tables, etc. It is composed of a document structure information database for managing reference information of parts and means for accessing it. [Effect] Outline of a logical structure unit in a structured document and reference of constituent parts such as figures, tables, and mathematical expressions, and a part on behalf of the user when registering a constituent part in a document in a window in which the logical structure can be edited It is necessary to insert a tag that instructs the insertion of a component, check the correspondence of the reference / referenced tag of a component without executing layout processing, and present it, and to associate the reference / referenced tag of the component. The input operation of the character string can be omitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to creation of a document for processing a structured document file having an identifier for each structured unit,
Be involved in a system that supports editing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, a conventional technique relating to a structured document and the logical structure and layout structure of the document will be described.

Generally, a document has two kinds of structures and rules that define the structures. One is a formal structure such as chapters, sections, and paragraphs, and their containment relationship forms one tree structure. The logical tree structure between structural units such as chapters, sections, and paragraphs is called the logical structure of a document. The rules defining the logical structure include a structural unit included in the document and an identifier called a tag representing the structural unit, an inclusive relation between the structural units, and a repeating method for each structural unit. On the other hand, the other is called the layout structure of the document, and refers to the physical layout structure of the document that we can usually see in newspapers and magazines. This can be thought of as arranging the logical structure of the document on paper or a display so that it can be easily understood by humans. The rules that define the layout structure define how to visualize a given logical structure, such as the columns and fonts of the visualized document, the number of points, the character decoration, and kinsoku rules. Contains. The rules that define the layout structure are also called layout styles.

A structured document refers to a normal document to which an identifier indicating a logical structure defined by rules is added.
To get the final output from a structured document, we use a document formatting application called a layouter. The layouter automatically arranges the logical structure of the document on the paper or display according to the layout style.

As an advantage of the structured document, it is possible to exchange data including the logical structure of the document between different document systems, automatically perform the layout of the document, and automatically create a table of contents / index. Is mentioned. However, since the document and the tag are mixed, the readability of the document file as the original is greatly impaired.

ISO is a standard related to structured documents.
Standard "ISO8613: ODA (Open Document Architecture)" and I
SO standard "ISO8879: SGML (Standard Generalized Markup La
In addition, there is a batch processing type document processing system TeX developed by D. Knuth as a conventional document processing system that processes a document using such a document structure and its rules. As another system example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There are -147059 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-23164.

Next, a conventional technique relating to a document processing system called WYSIWYG will be described.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Ge) is a document system for editing a structured document while displaying the final output result of the document from the beginning.
t). WYSIWYG literally means "what you are seeing now will be what you finally get". Examples of such a WYSIWYG type document system include Microsoft-Word of Microsoft Corporation and Word-Perfect of Word Perfect Corporation. WYSI
The WYG document system has the advantage that the interface is intuitive and easy for users to understand. On the other hand,
The disadvantage is that the user has to specify the style of the entire document.

Inte as a product that combines the advantages of these structured document systems and WYSIWYG form document systems
Interleaf 5 from rleaf, etc. are listed. These are WYS
By using the IWYG-type interface, the system substitutes for tag input, eliminating tag input errors and improving the visibility of the document being created.

Next, a conventional technique relating to the outline processor will be described. While the purpose of the document system explained so far is to support the layout and display / printing of documents, the outline processor is focused on the support of ideas and composition for document creation. It is a thing. By mapping the ideas and ideas in the user's head into a tree-type hierarchical structure and editing the tree structure there, the user's ideas and configurations are supported. An example of such an outline processor is Inspiration from Inspiration Software.

Akane by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. is a combination of the functions of the outline processor and the structured document system. Akane is a WYSI similar to Interleaf5
It has not only WYG interface but also outline input interface. Since tags are added when entering ideas and ideas in outline, Interlea
It provides a rational user interface that allows you to enter tags without being aware of tags like f5. Therefore, it can be said that the outline input is currently the most suitable input form for editing the structured document. However, it also has the following drawbacks. As shown in FIG. 16, in the document system having the outline input interface, the component 1601 is displayed as the size of the component as the content of the structural unit 1600. Therefore, when the component is displayed, the following structural unit 1602 is displayed. The interval of was extended and it interfered with the logical editing. For this purpose, it is conceivable that parts should be displayed as constituent elements in the same way as structural units, but there was no such thing.

Next, a conventional technique relating to a method of registering or inserting a component into a document will be described. Registering a component here refers to the operation of inserting a figure, table, or mathematical formula into a document. The operations performed in registering the component parts include two operations, an operation of converting the part data into a format that can be displayed and printed by the document system that is the registration destination, and an operation of inserting the converted data into the document.

First, in a document processing system having a WYSIWYG type interface, the component registration means is cut and paste. In other words, on the application that created the part, the part is converted to a format common to applications, such as a bitmap format, placed on a shared memory called the clipboard, and inserted into the specified part of the document application. To achieve this.

On the other hand, in a structured document processing system having a batch processing type interface, in addition to inputting a tag for instructing the insertion of a component into a document at an appropriate position, a tag for referencing a component is also input at the same time. To be done. this is,
This is to use the function of automatically determining the reference numbers of figures and tables. In addition, a character string for identifying the component is entered in both the component insertion tag and the reference tag in order to associate the component with the reference.

Microsoft's MS-Word and WordPerfect's W
In document systems such as ordPerfect, component parts are registered using the former cut and paste interface. Also, in document systems such as TeX and Grace, the latter tag is used for registration. Structured document systems that have WYSIWYG form interfaces such as Interleaf5 and Fuji Xerox Akane use cut and paste interfaces to register components, but for tags that refer to components, this is supported. Not not.

Finally, a conventional technique relating to a method of activating an editor that has created a component with as few steps as possible will be described. These typical technologies include OLE on Microsoft Windows 3.1 from Microsoft and Ma from Apple.
Issued and quoted on cintoshSystem 7.0. Both of these are techniques in which, by double-clicking the part put in the document with the mouse 102, the editor in which the part is created is started and the part data is read in to make it editable. However, these technologies target WYSIWYG type interfaces, and products such as Interleaf5, Akane, and MS-Word do not have the function of activating the component editor from the outline input interface.

[0017]

As described above, outline input is suitable as an input interface in a structured document system. However, this has the following problems.

First, as a first problem, in the current outline input interface, it becomes difficult to know where the constituent parts are because they are folded into the logical structure in which they are included, and even when the constituent parts are displayed. As the contents of the structural unit are displayed in the size of the component as it is, the interval of the logical structure is widened and it is difficult to see.

The second problem is that the correspondence between the tag instructing the insertion of the component and the tag to be referred to is unknown until the layout is performed. Until now, when an error message was output from the layouter, the user had to compare the component insertion tags and the reference tags throughout the structured document one by one to check the correspondence, which was a heavy burden on the user. .

The third problem is that WYSIWYG is a part registration / change operation including a part reference operation.
As with the form interface, it is not easy to do. As explained in the prior art,
Since there is a correspondence between the component insertion tag and the reference tag, it is necessary to enter the ID character string for identifying the component.
In the document system having the WYSIWYG type interface up to now, this reference function is not used or abandoned, so such trouble does not occur, but it is necessary in the structured document system using the reference function.

In order to solve these problems, it is conceivable to display tags indicating the insertion and reference of these parts as icons on the outline input interface as icons, but this has the following problems. Occurs.

In other words, the fourth problem is that the structure of the entire document becomes difficult to understand when the number of icons representing the insertion and reference displayed on the outline input interface increases. This is because the user cannot display only the desired component icon.

The fifth problem is that the text including the reference tag indicating the reference icon cannot be accessed from the reference icon by a simple user operation.
That is, in order to access the corresponding reference tag from the icon representing the reference on the outline input interface, it is necessary to open the sentence including the tag folded in the structural unit.

The sixth problem is that the component data representing the component insertion icon cannot be directly accessed from the outline input interface. In other words, the outline input interface does not have an interface for accessing components such as OLE and publishing and quoting, so when moving from structured document editing to component editing, the user can switch the file list display window, etc. before the component editor is opened. It took time to start.

[0025]

In order to solve these problems, the present invention provides the following means.

In order to solve the first problem, in addition to the outline input function, a function for displaying the parts included in the logical structure as constituent elements is prepared.

First, in order to realize an outline input interface as a base, means for extracting a logical structure of a document from a structured document file, a database for storing and managing the extracted logical structure, and a hierarchical structure for the logical structure. , A means for changing the saved logical structure according to a logical editing operation by the user on the interface, and a means for outputting the saved / managed logical structure on a structured document file.

Next, as means for displaying a part as a component on the outline input interface,
Means for retrieving a tag instructing the insertion of a component and a tag referencing this from the structured document, a database for managing the position of each retrieved tag in the logical structure and history information unique to that component, There is provided means for displaying an icon representing insertion / reference of a component on the outline input interface as a component on the outline input interface based on the position information of the tag so that the icon has the same size as the logical structure.

Next, in order to solve the second problem, a function of presenting to the user the correspondence situation of the parts inserted on the outline input interface and the reference to the parts is provided. In order to realize this, in addition to the above means, a database that manages the correspondence relationship between the component insertion tag and the reference tag and based on this, the icon indicating the component insertion tag and the current icon on the icon indicating the reference tag are displayed. Provide a means for displaying the reference status.

Next, in order to solve the third problem, at the same time when the parts are registered, the operation of associating the parts insertion tag with the reference tag can be easily performed by the icon operation.

First, in order to register a part, the means for obtaining the path name of the part data file, the means for converting the part data into a format that can be displayed and printed by the document system as the registration destination, and the part insertion tag are structured. Provides a means of inserting into a document.

For correspondence, in addition to the above means,
Insert the ID character string by dropping and dragging the unreferenced reference icon onto the insert icon, or dropping and dragging the unmatched insert icon onto the reference icon. A means for associating the above is provided.

Next, in order to solve the fourth problem, a means for switching and displaying the component insertion icon and the component reference icon on the outline interface, and a component insertion having a designated ID character string. Provide a means to show / hide only icons and reference icons respectively.

Next, in order to solve the fifth problem, the structural unit in which the text including the reference tag represented by the reference icon is folded and expanded by mouse operation such as double-clicking on the reference icon is expanded. Provide a means to display.

Finally, in order to solve the sixth problem, means for directly activating the component editor from the outline input interface is provided.

[0036]

First, the operation of the present invention when displaying the parts list from the parts insertion tag will be described.

First, the logical structure is extracted from the structured document by the means for extracting the logical structure represented by the logical tag in the structured document. The extracted logical structure is stored in a database that manages the logical structure on the system and, at the same time, displayed in a tree structure on the outline input interface.

Next, each tag is searched from the structured document file by the means for searching the insertion tag and the reference tag of the part, and the positions of these tags in the logical structure are stored in the database. Then, history information unique to the part is registered in the part information database. Next, the correspondence status of the parts is registered in the reference information database from the logical structure database and the parts information database.

Next, based on the position information of the tag, a means for displaying an icon indicating insertion / reference of the component on the outline input interface, an icon representing the editor that created the component, and an ID for identifying the component. Character strings are displayed together with the logical structure. At this time, insert
By displaying and hiding the references separately and displaying and hiding the parts of the specified ID character string, the window for displaying a list of the insertion tags of the parts specified by the user and the reference tags of the parts of the logical structure are displayed. It is possible to switch between windows that display outlines as constituent elements at the same time, windows that display outlines by combining the three, and display / hide specified parts.

Next, the operation when registering a component by operating the icon will be described.

The user drags the part data file &
When the icon is moved to the component list display window by the drop operation, the path name of the component data file is acquired and the path name is acquired, and the component data is converted into a format that can be displayed and printed by the document system that is the registration destination. Passed to means. The component data conversion means is passed and the document system converts the data into a displayable / printable format. Finally,
This component is registered in the component history information database.

Next, when an ID character string for identifying a part is input at the time of registration, the reference tag of this part is searched by the searching means using the ID character string as a key. If the ID character string does not exist in the reference information database, the mark indicating that the part is not referenced is added to the part icon by the means for displaying the correspondence status of the part. When the ID character string is not input at the time of registration, the ID character string is set to “ID not set”, and an X mark indicating that the component is not referenced is added to the component icon. If the part to be registered is overlaid on the part icon that represents the reference tag of the part on the outline input interface, the ID character string of the icon that represents the reference will be used as is as the ID character string of the part to be registered. It is entered by means of entering an ID string. Further, the reference character icon is input by dragging and dropping the reference icon onto the component icon for which the ID character string is not set on the component list display. Finally, the tag for inserting the component is inserted into the structured document by the means for inserting the tag into the structured document.

Next, the operation when the logical structure is edited will be described. First, when the logical structure is edited by means for realizing the outline input interface, etc., the database for storing and managing the logical structure is updated. The position information of the reference tag / entity tag on the parts database is updated based on the result of the next logical structure change. When the ID character string for identifying the part is input, the structured document is searched by the above-mentioned search means using the ID character string as a key. If the ID character string does not exist in the document, the mark indicating that the part is no longer referenced is added to the part icon by the means for displaying the part icon. Finally, it is redisplayed by the means for displaying the icon representing the component on the outline input interface based on the position information of the tag.

Finally, the operation for accessing the component data and the reference tag will be described.

When the reference icon on the outline input interface is double-clicked, the logical structure unit including the reference tag represented by the reference icon is extracted from the database and the logical structure database that manage the correspondence between the component insertion tag and the reference tag. To be acquired. Then, an interface for displaying the logical structure as a hierarchical structure displays the contents of this folded logical structure.

When the component insertion icon is double-clicked on the outline input interface and the component list display with the mouse, the component data is stored from the database managing the correspondence between the component insertion tag and the reference tag and the component information database. The path name of the file being saved is acquired. Next, the component editor is activated by the external application activation means, the data of the component is read, and the state becomes editable.

[0047]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a device configuration diagram in the present invention.

The equipment in which the present invention is implemented is a central control unit.
100 and storage device 101. A mouse 102, a keyboard 103, or the like is connected as an input device to the system, and an instruction from a user is transmitted to the central controller 100 through these. As the output device, CRT104,
A printer 105 and the like are connected, and the processing result from the central control unit 100 is transmitted to the user through these.
The storage device 101 is a part in which an operating system of the entire device, an execution module as in the present invention, and data such as documents and images are stored.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a program running on this system.

The program 200 is composed of six modules including a control unit 201, a window display unit 202, a document structure information database unit 203, a document preprocessor 204, an external application control unit 205, and a component data conversion unit 206.

The control unit 201 includes a window display unit 202, a document structure information database unit 203, a document preprocessor 204,
External application control unit 205, component data conversion unit 206
This is a part that integrates the five modules of and controls the input and output between each module.

The window display section 202 is a section for transmitting an input such as a user operation to the control section 201 and at the same time presenting the processing result of the present invention to the user. This part has an outline input interface and a parts list display, and realizes a logic editing means and a means for displaying an icon representing a part on the outline input interface.

Next, the document structure information database unit 203
Extracts logical structure information, reference information for figures / tables / mathematical expressions, and table of contents / index information from the structured document file to be edited, and stores it as a database unique to that document, or an external higher-level document. This is a part for exchanging document history information and the like with the management database 207.

The document preprocessor 204 stands between the structured document file to be edited and the document structure information database unit 203, and outputs logical structure information and reference information of parts in the database to the structured document file. It is a part. These processes are automatically performed in a form invisible to the user, and the user is relieved from the trouble of directly editing the structured document. Further, it realizes a means for editing the tag for instructing the insertion of the component and the reference tag.

The external application control unit 205 includes a text editor 208 for editing a structured document file, an editor 209 for creating drawings and tables constituting the document, a layouter 210 for allocating the structured document on a display or a paper surface,
The application 211, which displays and prints the laid out result, is started and ended according to a user operation. This portion functions as an application launching unit, and saves the user from having to switch to a file list display window or the like to launch the application.

The part data conversion unit 206 is a part for converting the data created by the editor 209 for creating drawings and tables into a format that can be handled by the layouter 210 and the display / print application 211 when the part is registered in the document. . Generally, the data format of the parts is different for each editor 209 that creates each drawing or table, and it is not necessarily the format that the layouter 210 or the display / print application 211 can handle. The component data conversion unit 206 automatically converts the stored component data and stores it. The saved data is the layouter 210 and display / display.
Any format that can be handled by the print application 211 may be used, but an object format such as OLE or issuance and quotation that allows easy management of component data may be used.

FIGS. 3 and 4 explain the logical tags and insertion tags, the reference tags and their functions in a structured document.

FIG. 3 is an example of a structured document processed by the execution program 200. Structured document 30 as shown
0 is an identifier called a tag that describes the structure between normal documents. There are tags that describe the logical structure and those that give instructions to the layouter 210. 301 is an example in which a tag describing a logical structure representing a “chapter” is inserted, and the character string “structured document processing” up to the end of the sentence to the right of the tag is the title of this chapter. 302 and 303 are tags for instructing the layouter 210 to insert and refer to components such as figures and tables. The component insertion tag 302 is
It has a character string used as an ID to identify the part in the document and a parameter indicating the size of the part. In the case of this figure, the ID character string is "market outline" and its dimensions are width.
It can be seen that the height is 500 and 400. The character string up to the end of the sentence on the right side of the component insertion tag 302 represents the title of this component. The reference tag 303 also has an ID character string for identifying the referenced part as a parameter. In the case of this figure, it can be seen that the “market outline” is the ID character string and refers to the component indicated by the component insertion tag 302.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the result of laying out the structured document 300 is displayed on the display / print application 211. As indicated by 400, the tag 301 indicating the logical structure is replaced with the chapter / section number calculated by the layouter 210, and the character string on the right side thereof is shaped into a predetermined typeface / size. The pie chart 401 is a component inserted by the layouter 210 according to an instruction from the component insertion tag 302. The position to be inserted is automatically determined by the layouter 210 from a predetermined layout rule and the position of the tag 303 that refers to this part. As the title 402 of the graph, the character string “... in the PC market” up to the end of the sentence on the right side of the component insertion tag 302 is used. The item number of the figure is also calculated by the chapter / section number and the layouter 210 and inserted. The reference tag 303 is replaced with a character string indicating the type of component referenced by the layouter 210 and an item number. In this figure,
It is replaced by "FIG. 1" as shown at 403.

FIGS. 5 to 10 illustrate the structure of the document structure information database unit 203, which is the core of the execution program 200, and the data structure of each database.

FIG. 5 shows the modules and the data flow forming the document structure information database unit 203. The document structure information database unit 203 includes a database unit 500, a document structure extraction function 501, and a parts reference information management function 50.
2, interface function 503 with upper document database
It consists of three modules. Further, the database unit 500 is composed of three databases: a document logical structure DB 504, a reference information DB 505 such as a figure / table / mathematical expression, and a component history information DB 506. These three databases are closely linked, and when any one of the three databases is changed by editing, the rest of the databases are modified accordingly.

The document structure extraction function 501 extracts the document logical structure from the structured document file 300 to be edited and stores it in the database unit 500 as the document logical structure DB 504.

The component reference information management function 503 extracts the reference number in the structured document file 300 or the item reference information such as figures, tables, and mathematical formulas from the component reference information file 507 output from the layouter and stores it in the database unit. Store in 500 as reference information DB 505 such as figures, tables and mathematical formulas.

The interface function 503 with the upper document database is used by the upper database 20 that manages documents based on the component insertion tags from the structured document file 300.
Data communication with the outside is realized by retrieving component history information from the 7 or file system and storing it in the database unit 500 as the component history information DB 506, or conversely returning it to the upper database 207.

Details of the three databases, that is, the document logical structure DB 504, the reference information DB 505 such as figures / tables / mathematical formulas, and the component history information DB 506 will be described later.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the data structure of the document structure information in the document structure information DB 504.

In the document structure information DB 504, one document is represented as one tree structure. In the tree structure, the document structure unit is represented as a node 600, and the parent-child relationship between the nodes is represented as a link 601. The link relationship represents only the direct parent-child relationship, and there are no links that represent other relationships.

All the documents are represented by a tree with the "document" 600-1 as the root and the highest level document structure unit included in the document as a direct child node. "Chapter" in this figure
Node 600-2 is the highest level document structure unit. Multiple "sections" as child nodes of the "chapter" node 600-2
There is a node 600-3, and a "paragraph" node 600-4 as a subordinate node thereof. Also, all nodes are text 600-5
As a terminal node. Text 600-5 stores the text information of the node.

FIG. 7 shows the data structure of the node 600. The link 601 is realized as pointers 700 and 701 to areas for storing node data of parents and children. The parent node 700 is an array in which the pointer to the node 600 is stored and the parent node itself are represented as one for convenience.

One node 600 includes a pointer 701 to a parent node, an ID 702 of the own node, and a structural unit level 70 of the own node.
3, structured document file name 704, child node number 705, pointer 706 to the array that stores the pointer to the child node, the number of text data 707 that own node has, to the array that stores the pointer to each text data area The pointer 708, the reference tag number 709 of the own node, and the pointer 710 to the array storing each ID character string are composed of 10 fields. The pointer 701 to the parent node stores the head pointer to the parent node 700 and is used when tracing back from the child node to the parent node. The node's title name such as chapter title and section title is stored in the ID 702 of the own node. The structural unit level 703 of the own node stores the level of the document structural unit of this node such as chapter, section, paragraph. The structured document file name 704 stores the full path of the structured document file in which this node is stored. Number of child nodes
705 stores the number of direct child nodes of the own node. A pointer to an array that stores pointers to child nodes
A pointer to the array 711 is stored in 706. Array 711
In, a pointer to the child node is stored. The number of text data areas of this node is stored in the number of text data areas 707 of its own node. The pointer 708 to the pointer array to each text data area stores the pointer to the pointer array 712. In the reference tag number 709 of the own node, the number of reference tags having different ID character strings of this node is stored. A pointer to the array 713 is stored in the pointer 710 to the array that stores each ID character string. The array 713 stores the ID character string included in the reference tag. The reason why the logical structure DB 504 has a field related to the reference tag is that the reference tag is included as a character in the structured document, so that it is easier to manage and that the document and the part are different parts. This is because the registration / deletion process of is simplified.

By expressing the node 600 and the link 601 with such a data structure, the editing operation of the logical structure such as the rearrangement of document structure units, the insertion / deletion, the movement of the logical level can be realized as the change of the link 601. It is lighter and can improve user response. Also, by having structural information such as chapters and sections in each node, chapter numbers and the like can be displayed immediately.

FIG. 8 shows a reference information DB 505 such as figures, tables and mathematical formulas.
The data structure of is described. Reference information DB505 such as figures / tables / mathematical formulas includes a component ID 801, an ID character string 802, a structural unit number 803 that refers to a component, and a structural unit ID that refers to a component
Is composed of a record section 800 composed of four pointers 804 to an array for storing the, and an array 805 for storing the ID of the structural unit that refers to the component.

The component ID 801 is an ID character string of two different components.
It is a number used to identify and manage parts even if the 802 collides. The part ID 801 is
It is determined by the component history information database 506. The number of structural units 803 that refers to a component is a logical structure DB 504 that represents a logical structural unit that includes a tag that refers to this component.
This is a part for storing the number of upper nodes 600. Pointer 804 to the array that stores the ID of the structural unit that references the component
Stores a pointer to an array 805 that stores the ID 702 of the node 600.

The reference information DB 505 is a database for linking the reference tag information on the logical structure DB 504 and the component information of the component history information DB 506. The reason for adopting such a configuration is that the logical structure DB 504 is made smaller and lighter to improve the user response when editing a document, and the component history information DB
This is to reduce unnecessary access to 506 and enable component registration to be performed separately from logical editing. This allows you to enter the ID string and refer to it collectively after registering only the parts, or delete the corresponding record in the component parts history information database 506 even if the reference tag temporarily disappears due to document editing. You can prevent it.

FIG. 9 shows the data structure of the component history information DB 506. The component history information DB 506 includes an entry table 900 configured by a component ID 901 for identifying a component and a record section 902 storing various history information of the component.

The record section 902 includes an ID character string 903 and a type 90.
4, reference file name 905, creator 906, creation date 907, update date
908 and comment section 909. The ID character string 903 is a character string defined by the user to logically refer to the component in the structured document. The type 904 indicates whether this part is linked or embedded. The reference file name 905 represents the path where the entity of the part is stored.

The comment section 909 displays a message added by the creator and a version update notification from the system. Creator 906, creation date 907, update date 908, comment section 909
Is a function for interfacing with the upper document database from the upper document management DB 207 that manages the parts collectively.
It is acquired by component registration or modification. Users can use this information to co-author with multiple people,
Allows the parts to be reused many times.

FIG. 10 explains the component information provided by the component history information DB 506 in FIG. These pieces of information are displayed on the field 800 of the parts list display unit 503, or displayed as a popup window as a dialog window 1000 with the user. The parts information displayed on the dialogue window 1000 is the icon 1001 and the product history information DB 506.
Information stored above, ID string 903, type 904, reference file name 905, creator 906, creation date 907, update date 908,
The comment part 909. The icon 1001 represents an application for creating a part and is also an application launcher button. By double-clicking the icon 1001, the part editor 20 that created this part is displayed.
Start up 9.

11 to 14 illustrate the user interface for operating the parts provided by the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the main window 1100 displayed by the window display section 202 in the execution program 200. The window display unit 202 includes a document style selection unit 1101, a logical structure display unit 1102, a structured document file name display unit 1103, and a parts list display unit 1104.
Either one of the logical structure display unit 1102 and the parts list display unit 1104 can be temporarily hidden by a user operation. Alternatively, they may be displayed as separate windows.

The document style selection unit 1101 uses the combination of the definition of the logical structure of the structured document to be edited and the layout rule at the time of layout as a format template.
This is the part that the user selects.

The logical structure display section 1102 is a section for realizing the outline input interface and the icon display of the reference tag. Here, the logical inclusion / order relationship of the structured document currently being edited is expressed as a tree structure. In the part corresponding to the leaf, the item number and the name of the document structure unit are written so that the user can understand the outline of the document. Also, the user can select a document structure unit like 1104 with a pointing device such as the mouse 102. When the document structure units are selected, the user is notified that they are selected by being surrounded by a frame or the like or displayed in black and white inversion. The selected portion can be edited by moving back and forth and rewriting the name. Also, by double-clicking the selected portion, the text display portion becomes editable and the text can be input. Furthermore, by performing a menu operation or the like on the selected reference icon, the text in the structural unit including the reference tag represented by the reference icon can be displayed by opening the outline display.

The structured document file name display portion 1102 is a portion for displaying the path name of the file in which the currently referenced structural unit 1104 is stored.

The icon 1105 for displaying the reference tag is shown in FIG.
The reference tag 303 shown in FIG. 3 is expressed on the logical structure display unit 1102. The icon part of the reference icon 1105 shows what kind of part editor 209 created the referenced part. The character string on the right side of the icon part indicates the ID character string used for referring to the component. In this figure, this component is created by the component editor represented by the icon of the palette, and the character string "market outline" is used for reference.

The parts list display section 1104 is a part for displaying a list of constituent parts such as drawings, tables and graphs registered in the currently referenced document. Registered parts in the list 1106
Are actually listed based on the tag 302 that instructs the insertion of the component shown in FIG. In addition to the order in which the drawings appear in the document, the format of the list display is the part ID
It is possible to sort by using a character string or the date of creation as a key, or to display only the components included in the document structure unit 1104 selected by the logical structure display unit 1102. Similar to the logical structure display unit 1102, the editing operation with the mouse 102 is possible, and a popup window 1000 that presents detailed information by a user action such as double-click is displayed, or a reference icon 1105 is displayed by dragging and dropping.
You can change the ID string.

For the part selected in the parts list display section 1104, all the reference icons of the part in the logical structure display section 1102 are switched to be highlighted, or the reference icons of other parts are hidden. can do. Further, the sentences in the structural unit including the reference tag represented by those reference icons can be displayed by opening the outline display in order or simultaneously. Details of these functions will be described later.

FIG. 12 shows another example of the combination display of the logical structure and the parts list in the logical structure display section 1102. In this example, an icon 12 representing a registered component is displayed on the logical structure display.
00 and an italicized icon 1201 representing a reference to 00 are collectively displayed. The reference icon 1201 is italicized so that it can be seen at a glance whether the icon represents the entity of the part or the reference. The position in the structure in which each icon is included indicates that a part or reference is included in that structural unit.
In the case of this figure, since the registered part icon 1200 having the ID character string "market overview" is included in "2.1 ODA ...", the part represented by this icon is inserted and displayed in section "2.1". .
Further, since the reference icon 1201 having the ID character string “market outline” is included in “2.2 SGML ...”, it can be seen that the tag referencing the above component is in section “2.2”. Further, by switching the display mode of the logical structure display section 1102 by the user, it is possible to display only the registered component icon 1200 or the reference icon 1201. Similar to FIG. 11, the editing operation of the logical structure can be performed by the mouse 102 and the keyboard 103.

FIG. 13 illustrates a display method of reference tags in the logical structure display 1102. Reference icons 1300 and 1301 indicate that there are two types of reference tags included in each structural unit “2.2 ....”.

The reference icon 1300 shows a case where the reference tag representing the reference icon 1300 is in correspondence with the part indicated by the reference tag. The icon portion represents the component editor that created this component. The character string portion represents the ID character string used when referring to this component. In this figure, the ID character string is “market outline”. Then, the parts having the same ID character string are registered in the parts list display portion 1104, which shows that the reference tag and the registered parts are in correspondence with each other.

The reference icon 1301 represents the case where the reference tag indicating the reference icon 1301 does not correspond to the part pointed to. The icon part indicates that the part editor 209 that created this part is not finalized? The mark icon is shown. The character string portion represents an ID character string used when referring to this component as with the reference icon 1300. In the figure, the ID character string is "logical structure and layout structure". And the same as the parts list display section 1104
It indicates that the component having the ID character string is not registered, and the reference tag and the registered component are not associated.

FIG. 14 shows the parts list display section 1104 in more detail. The parts list display unit 1104 includes a field 1400 that displays information for each part. On the field 1400, for each part, an icon 1401 representing the application that created the part, an ID character string display area 1402, a type 1403 indicating whether the part is linked or embedded, and part data are displayed. Information stored in the document structure information database unit 500, such as the path name 1404 of the stored file, is displayed.

The field 1400 checks the ID character string 1402 to see if a part is referenced in the structured document to be edited and displays this. When a part is referenced, it is displayed normally like icon 1401, but
The part was registered but not referenced, ie
When it is considered that the reference tag is not used in the description part of the part or the correspondence between the part and the reference tag is deviated, an icon 1403 with an X mark is displayed to warn the user. The reference status of the component can be determined by searching the reference information database 1105 for the ID character string of the registered component. The presence / absence of the ID character string is determined immediately after component registration and is displayed to the user by the above method.

The field 1400 also provides an application starting function. Icon 1401 on field 1400
When is double-clicked with the mouse, the component editor 209 that created this component is activated, and the component data is read in and made editable. When the editing in the parts editor is completed, the corrected parts are automatically re-registered, and the corrected data is transferred to the layouter 2 by the parts data conversion unit 206.
Convert to a format that 10 can handle.

For the component corresponding to the field 1400 selected in the component list display unit 1104, a menu operation is performed to highlight all reference icons of the component in the logical structure display unit 1102, or other components other than this. You can hide the reference icon of. Further, the sentence in the structural unit including the reference tag represented by those reference icons can be displayed by opening the outline display by another menu operation.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in the present invention, the reference status of a component is displayed to the user by both the reference icon display in the logical structure display unit 1102 and the icon display in the component list display 1103.

FIG. 15 explains in detail the part registration operation in the present invention. The component registration operation by the execution program 200 is performed by dragging the component file icon 1501 to the component list display unit 1104 from the directory display window 1500 that displays a list of files as icons.
It is done by dropping. When the component file is registered by these operations, the component data conversion unit 206 is activated and the layouter 210 or the display print application 211 is activated.
Is converted to a data format that can be processed. Next, figures / tables /
A record for managing this component is created in a database that manages reference information such as mathematical expressions and a database that manages component component history information. Component history information DB50
6 inquires the upper document management DB for information about this component and stores it in a record. Finally, the field 1400 corresponding to the registered component in the component list display unit 1104 is newly displayed together with the above record contents, and the registration process ends.

Immediately after registration, an X mark is displayed on the icon 1401 and “ID not set 1”, “ID not set 2”, and “ID not set 3” are displayed on the ID character string 1402 until a new input is made by the user. ..
Are used in sequence. This is the id string 1402
Means that there is no reference to this part, since is not set.

ID character string 14 for the user to identify the part
When 02 is entered from the keyboard, the ID character string 140 entered in the structured document file 300 currently being edited
The logical structure DB 504 is searched for whether 2 is included, and whether or not this part is referred to in the target structured document is checked. If there is no reference or if there is an input error in the ID character string, the X mark on the icon 1401 is displayed as it is, indicating that the user has no reference. If it is referenced, the X mark on the icon 1401 disappears, indicating that the user has a reference.

As means for inputting the ID character string, there are the following operating methods in addition to the keyboard. Using the mouse 102, the reference icon 1502 of the? Mark displayed in the logical structure display unit 1102 is dragged and dropped onto the icon 1401 with an X mark on the field 1400. Then, the ID character string 1402 of the reference icon 1502 of the? Mark is automatically input as the ID character string of the unreferenced part that is dragged and dropped. After that, the registration process is performed in the same manner as described in the explanation of keyboard input. With this method, the ID string is automatically entered from the existing reference icon, so
It is possible to prevent double registration due to a character string input error or misunderstanding.

Further, in the present invention, at the same time as the part registration operation
Provide the operation method that can input the ID character string. This is a method of directly dropping the icon of the component file to the reference icon of the question mark in the logical structure display unit 1102 from a file list display window that displays a list of files with icons.

In this figure, the file list display window 15
00 to 93 The component file icon 1501 with the file name Sale.xfg is displayed as "93 sales" on the logical structure display area 1102.
The part is registered by dragging and dropping it on the reference icon 1502 with the?

First, when the component file icon 1501 is dragged and dropped, the component file path "c: \ usr \ ...
\ 93Sale .xfg "is passed to the component data conversion unit 206 and the document structure information database unit 203. The component data conversion unit 206 performs data conversion of the file corresponding to c: \ usr \ ... \ 93Sale.xfg, and creates a record that manages this reference information database 505 and component component history information database 506.

Next, a field 1400 for displaying this part is displayed.
Is displayed on the parts list display unit 1104. Field 1400
The icon 1401 of the component editor that created the component to be registered is displayed above. ? Mark reference icon 1
The ID string "93 Sales" of 502 becomes the ID string 1402,
The path "c: \ usr \ ... \ 93Sale.xfg" of the component file is displayed as the reference file name 1404.

Finally, the icon portion of the reference icon 1502 of the question mark on the logical structure display portion 1102 changes to the same as the icon 1401 of the component editor that created the component to be registered, and the registration processing ends.

In this operating method, the above-described component registration processing, input of the ID character string, and retrieval / display of the reference are automatically performed at once, so double registration due to character string input error or misunderstanding is prevented. Not only that, the input operation of ID string can be omitted. As a result, the user can associate the component insertion tag with the reference tag when registering a component in the same way as with cut and paste, which has been done with conventional WYSIWYG format editors, etc., without being aware of the ID character string. it can.

[0107]

As described above, according to the present invention, the constituent parts of a document are displayed separately on the outline input interface according to reference / entity, and by supporting the registration operation of the parts on this interface, Give the effect.

First, as a first effect, by presenting the logical structure of the document including the components to the user on the outline input interface, the user can understand the contents.

As a second effect, the user can be presented with the reference status of the component without executing the layout, so that the description of the component can be dropped or a mistake such that the description is misaligned with the component can be easily found.

As a third effect, since the input operation of the ID character string for associating the component insertion tag and the reference tag can be performed at the same time when the component is registered by the icon operation, the burden on the user is reduced. be able to.

As a fourth effect, since the contents of the structural unit including the reference tag can be displayed and the editor in which the part is created can be activated by operating the mouse on the outline input interface, the editor in which the part file or the part is created can be activated. It is possible to save the trouble of searching for and starting from the file list display window.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a module configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a structured document on which the present invention processes.

FIG. 4 is an example of a layout display of the structured document shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a module configuration and data flow of a document structure information database unit.

FIG. 6 shows a tree representation of a logical structure database of documents.

FIG. 7 shows a data structure of a node in the database.

FIG. 8 shows a data structure of a reference information database such as figures, tables and mathematical formulas.

FIG. 9 shows a data structure of a component history information database.

FIG. 10 is a display example of component history information.

FIG. 11 is an overview of the main window.

FIG. 12 is another example of the document logical structure display unit.

FIG. 13 is an example of icon display of a reference tag.

FIG. 14 is a parts list display unit in the main window.

FIG. 15 illustrates a component registration operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a display example of components in a structural unit in the outline input interface.

Front page continuation (72) Haruo Murakami Inventor Haruo Murakami 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Stock Company Hitachi Software Development Division (72) Inventor Taku Yamaguchi 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi Software Development Division

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A system for supporting the creation of a structured document having a hierarchical structure of chapters, sections, terms, etc., comprising means for displaying the hierarchical structure of the structured document, and the means for displaying the hierarchical structure of the document. A document creation support system characterized by displaying constituent parts such as diagrams included in each structural element as constituent elements of a hierarchical structure. 2. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein the part display in the hierarchical structure display is represented by an icon having a shape indicating the feature of the part. 3. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein the part display in the hierarchical structure display is a character string related to the part. 4. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein the component display at a position where the entity of the component is inserted and the component display at a position where the component is simply referred to in text are expressed differently. A document creation support system characterized by displaying. 5. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein a position indicating device such as a mouse is used to select an entity of a component being displayed in a hierarchy or an icon representing the entity of the component, and the position indicating device determines the undetermined component. A document creation support system characterized in that a component entity corresponding to the undetermined component display is confirmed by associating a display with the component entity. 6. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein when the entity of the part being hierarchically displayed is undetermined, the part display is displayed with an expression indicating that it is undetermined. Support system. 7. The document creation support system according to claim 6, wherein when the entity of the unconfirmed part is confirmed, the display of the part is changed to a display corresponding to the confirmed part. . 8. The document creation support system according to claim 1, further comprising means for highlighting the component display in the hierarchical display when the document has a plurality of references to the same component. Creation support system. 9. The document creation support system according to claim 1, wherein a structural unit in which a sentence with a reference is folded and stored by designating a reference of a part being displayed in a hierarchy by a position pointing device such as a mouse. A document creation support system having means for expanding and displaying a document. 10. The document creation support system according to claim 1, further comprising means for activating an editor corresponding to a part being hierarchically displayed by designating the part with a position pointing device such as a mouse. Document creation support system.